I'm With You
by HilaryDroxursox
Summary: A songfic to the song "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne. I'M ALIVE!


**A/N: So, my PC's finally fixed, and I have all my data back. It's summer, which means that every person I know is on vacation. -_- Oh well. More writing time! **

**I put my iPod on shuffle, and this song came on…then this story happened. Enjoy! Please R&R. **

_*I'm standing on a bridge  
I'm waiting in the dark  
I thought that you'd be here by now  
There's nothing but the rain  
No footsteps on the ground  
I'm listening but there's no sound*_

Lizzie McGuire stood on the bridge over Cassie's Creek, which must have been smaller when they named it, since it was a rushing river by now. A whisky bottle laid limply in her right hand, and the other was occupied with wiping tears (now blackish from her mascara) from her hazel eyes. She had been waiting here for nearly an hour. She thought that he might come after her, but it had been nearly an hour and a half. No cars had even come down the road.

_*Isn't anyone tryin' to find me?  
Won't somebody come take me home  
It's a damn cold night  
Trying to figure out this life  
Won't you take me by the hand  
Take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are  
But I... I'm with you  
I'm with you*_

Just as Lizzie was tipping the whisky bottle upside down to get the last drops out, a car pulled onto the lane. She didn't look to see who it was. She liked to think she already knew. The car door shut, and a man walked down the bridge. He set a hand down on Lizzie's shoulder.

"Aiden?" Lizzie asked hopefully, taking the bottle away from her lips and turning to face the visitor. He didn't say anything.

"Gordo," Lizzie said, more definitely, now. Aiden's hair wasn't dark or curly; it wasn't him.

"Liz, what are you doing?" Gordo asked, leaning against the rail on the bridge.

"Thinking. Drinking. Mostly the second one," Lizzie replied. She hadn't seen Gordo in nearly three years, since he went off to law school. He came to her engagement party tonight as a surprise, but it hadn't been a very good one. It had just made Lizzie feel conflicted, and now he was here, standing on a bridge with her.

"Where's my _fiancé_?" Lizzie asked.

"He went home," Gordo replied, looking from the bridge to Lizzie, then back again. He didn't want to be here anymore than Lizzie wanted him to be, but no one else was going to go find Lizzie, and _someone _needed to talk some sense into her.

_*I'm looking for a place  
I'm searching for a face  
Is anybody here I know  
'Cause nothing's going right  
And everything's a mess  
And no one likes to be alone*_

Lizzie angrily tossed the empty beer bottle over the side of the bridge into the water below. It was swept away by the currant. Gordo stared at the river where the bottle had landed.

"Aren't you going to scold me for littering, or something?" Lizzie spat, folding her arms. The world span, and she chose to lean on the rail instead.

"You're drunk. I can't hold you responsible for your actions now." Lizzie let out a harsh laugh and wiped at her eyes again.

"Right. Okay." There was a pregnant pause, an uncomfortable silence. Lizzie hated it. A quiet Gordo was a dangerous Gordo. It usually meant he was thinking.

"Aiden doesn't deserve you," he said finally. Lizzie shook her head, fresh tears falling onto her cheeks.

"I don't deserve _him_. I wasn't good enough. That's why he cheated on me." Suddenly, Gordo's arms were around Lizzie.

"This is _not _your fault," Gordo said. "He was a jackass. If he can't see that you're the kindest, most brilliant girl in the world, he's an idiot. All he deserves is that blonde bimbo that's probably sitting in his living room in lingerie, waiting for him to get home."

"Jeez, that makes me feel better," Lizzie said sarcastically. She inhaled deeply. He still smelled the same; like a mix of gum, a new book, and fresh bread. She had missed that smell.

"It's true. Girls who are easy aren't any fun." Lizzie blushed.

"This is _not _a conversation I want to have with my best friend," she said. Gordo let go of Lizzie and averted his gaze. "I was thinking," Lizzie said awkwardly. She took a breath and started again. "When I came down here, I was going to…jump."

"Lizzie," Gordo whispered. "You were going to kill yourself?"

Tears flooded to Lizzie's eyes. "He means everything to me. I'm nothing without him."

"Lizzie, you're _so_ much better than that." Lizzie blinked. Gordo used to say that to her when they were teenagers. Lizzie had been so awkward and self-conscious then. She didn't want to go back down that road. "I'm always here for you," Gordo added.

"Harvard isn't exactly nearby." Gordo folded his arms.

"You can always call me. This year's it, anyway. I'll be done soon."

"When do you have to go back?" Lizzie followed Gordo's gaze up to the full moon. A warm June breeze nipped at her long hair.

"My plane leaves tomorrow at noon."

"Oh."

"And I don't want to have to come back because they found your body floating around in the river, okay?" Lizzie nodded. "The next time I come back here, I want it to be when you're _actually _getting married to a _good _guy."

Lizzie felt a pang of hurt at that, although she didn't know why.

_*Isn't anyone trying to find me?  
Won't somebody come take me home  
It's a damn cold night  
Trying to figure out this life  
Won't you take me by the hand  
Take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are  
But I... I'm with you  
I'm with you*_

"And when I go out to the East Coast, it's going to be for your wedding," Lizzie said, smiling. She forced herself to stop leaning on the railing.

"You sure you feel okay?"

"Yeah. Oh, that reminded me, how's Farrah?"

"Farrah? We broke up months ago."

"Really?"

"She said she was moving back out to Montana. She was a year ahead of me in school, remember? She didn't want a long distance relationship."

"I'm sorry. You seemed to really like her." In response, Gordo stuck his hand into his pocket, pulling out a business card. Lizzie took it and examined it. "You made an appointment to pick out a ring?"

"Crazy, I know. I mean, we had only dated for 9 months…."

"Oh, Gordo. I'm so sorry." Gordo nodded.

"It's okay. But it's getting late. I should really take you home and head back to the hotel."

"I don't want you to leave tomorrow, Gordo."

"I have to go, Liz." He stared at her for a moment, taking in the mascara on her cheeks. He reached out and wiped it off with his sleeve.

Maybe it was the alcohol, or the fact that she didn't know when she would see him again, but Lizzie got a strong urge to kiss Gordo.

_*Oh, why is everything so confusing  
Maybe I'm just out of my mind  
Yeah-he-yaa, Yeah-he-yah, Yeah-he-yah, Yeah-he-yah, Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!* _**(A/N: I copy-pasted this from a website, and I love how they typed the last "yeah" Lol). **

So she did. She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips into his. He tasted like mint, and she couldn't get enough of it. Gordo pulled away rather quickly, though.

"Now I really don't want you to go," she whispered, pressing her forehead into his shoulder.

"Liz," he said, sounding rather pained, "you're drunk. Let me take you home."

"I didn't kiss you because I'm drunk, Gordo," Lizzie said firmly.

"Yes you did. You probably won't even remember this in the morning."

"I _will_," she insisted. "I bet you 20 dollars I will."

"You should just pay me now, then," Gordo joked. He wrapped his arm around Lizzie's waste to support her and led her to his car.

Lizzie woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. She forced herself to sit up in bed, and then noticed that Matt was standing in the doorway.

"Well, well, well. Sleeping Beauty finally woke up," he said, a smug grin on his face.

"Not now, Matt," Lizzie said, pressing her hand to her forehead.

Suddenly looking more solemn, Matt added, "Gordo came to say goodbye about 20 minutes ago. I told him you weren't up."

Lizzie sprung out of bed and immediately regretted it. Her head was pounding. "Will you drive me to the airport, Matt?"

"Why would I? What's in it for me?"

"On the way home, I'll take you to Starbucks. I'd drive myself, but I can't drive with a headache like this."

"Fine," Matt said, going off in search of the keys to the Toyota.

Lizzie ran through the airport all the way up to the security gate. "Has a man named David Gordon gone through here yet?" She asked the lady checking the ID's. When all she got was a blank look in response, Lizzie added, "Tall guy, curly brown hair, blue eyes? Really skinny?"

"I don't believe so, ma'am, but I see a lot of faces."

Lizzie mumbled a string of curse words and checked her watch. "Never mind. His plane left 10 minutes ago."

"I'm sorry I missed him." Lizzie nodded sadly and turned to leave. On the escalator back down to the first floor, she pulled out her cellphone and texted Gordo:

_I DIDN'T GET TO SAY GOODBYE. :( OH, AND BTW, I REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT. _

To her surprise, Gordo texted back almost immediately:

_PLANE'S DELAYED. WE'RE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE AROUND 12:30 NOW. AND YOU DO? GUESS I OWE YOU 20 BUCKS…. _

Lizzie smiled to herself and thought carefully about what to say next.

_*It's a damn cold night  
Trying to figure out this life  
Won't you take me by the hand  
Take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are  
But I... I'm with you  
I'm with you*_

She replied:

_DO YOU THINK _WE _COULD TRY THAT LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP, INSTEAD? _

It was risky, but Lizzie couldn't ignore the feelings she had been having for Gordo as of late. Her phone buzzed.

_I'D BE HONORED. _

Lizzie got back into Matt's car. He hastily pulled out of the parking lot.

"Starbucks time!" He said in a sing-song voice. "Any luck?"

"Yeah," Lizzie smiled. "A whole lot of luck."

_*Take me by the hand  
Take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are  
But I... I'm with you  
I'm with you  
I'm with you...* _

**A/N: The ending's kinda cheesy, but that's what makes this story kind of cute. The cheese. ^_^ A little bit of cheese never hurt anyone. Unless you're allergic to dairy...**

**Hope you liked it; please R&R. :)**

**-Lucy **


End file.
